Chapter 121 - 120: Burial

Chapter 121: Chapter 120: Burial

As it turned out, when the Water Bandits came ashore to plunder last year, Sun Zhengyi’s family happened to live in the village that was hit the hardest.

His parents and brothers were all brutally slaughtered, and he only survived because he was away training at the martial arts hall.

The devastating blow of losing his entire family caused a drastic change in his temperament. He grew desperate for quick results, and after failing in his attempt to break through to the Spirit Realm, he had already lost all hope and developed a death wish.

The recent tragedy at Mirror Mountain—especially the collusion between the Government Office and the Noble Families, who took advantage of the crisis for their own gain—was the final spark that ignited his long-suppressed resentment and despair.

Feeling he had nothing left to lose, he took a desperate risk and committed the extreme act of seizing grain and killing an official.

In all likelihood, even he had never imagined the matter would have such far-reaching implications and such severe consequences.

As a man who had essentially graduated, his actions directly led to the Court revoking the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall’s charter.

The crime of killing an official was exceptionally heinous, so the Court demanded a swift and severe punishment.

The trial was incredibly swift, and Sun Zhengyi was quickly sentenced to immediate execution.

The day before the execution, Chen Shouheng’s heart ached. Remembering their bond as fellow disciples, he sought out Liu Wende, the Chief of the Criminal Division.

He hoped Liu Wende could pull some strings and bend the rules, allowing him to visit Sun Zhengyi in prison one last time.

But to his surprise, Liu Wende stopped him, his expression firm and grave.

"Shouheng, I understand how you feel. But this is no small matter. Sun Zhengyi is a criminal condemned by the highest authorities, and who knows how many eyes are on this case right now!"

Liu Wende lowered his voice, his tone grave. "If you go to visit him now, it will be easily twisted by those with ill intentions. They’ll say you have ties to this traitor, or even spread rumors that you were part of the plot to seize the grain and kill the official. Your entire future would be ruined. You mustn’t risk something so great for something so small!"

Seeing Chen Shouheng sigh endlessly, Liu Wende softened his tone.

"If your heart is truly set on this, then after the execution, I can see what I can do. I’ll have his body collected and released to you for burial. That can be considered a fulfillment of your bond as fellow disciples."

Chen Shouheng listened, knowing full well that Liu Wende was right and was only looking out for him.

After a long silence, he finally gave a solemn nod. "Then I am in your debt, sir."

「The next day, at the market square.」

Sun Zhengyi was hauled onto the execution platform.

He had long been tortured by the Jingwu Bureau’s methods until he barely resembled a man, his body covered in wounds, his eyes hollow and numb.

Only in the instant the executioner’s Ghost Head Saber fell did a flicker of indescribable relief seem to cross his face.

Chen Shouheng stood far off at the edge of the crowd, watching the vibrant life of the man he had once trained with come to an end.

Seeing his senior brother’s wretched state, remembering his face and laughter from days past, and thinking of the Government Office’s edicts, the Noble Families’ schemes, and Liu Wende’s warning...

In that moment, the flicker of youthful chivalry and hot-blooded passion that had ignited within him after winning the County Examination and getting a taste of the Jianghu was utterly extinguished, as if doused by a basin of ice-cold reality.

For the first time, he understood with chilling clarity that in this world, the dream of roaming the Jianghu, righting wrongs and settling scores with impunity, was ultimately just that—a dream.

...

「On the morning of the third day after Sun Zhengyi’s public execution.」

The sky was a hazy gray, as if draped in a somber veil.

Chen Shouheng rose early. After leaving the inn, he drove an ox-cart to a coffin maker’s shop and purchased a black coffin.

Then, using his connection with Liu Wende, he went to the dark, damp Funeral Room in an alley behind the County Magistrate’s Office and found the Corpse Stitcher, the man whose job it was to sew up unclaimed bodies.

The old man’s back was hunched, his eyes were cloudy, and he had long grown accustomed to the sight of death.

Chen Shouheng silently handed him five taels of silver.

The old man weighed the silver, a flicker of surprise in his cloudy eyes. He asked no questions, simply leading Chen Shouheng in silence to a straw mat in the corner.

Beneath the mat lay the cold, stiff, and incomplete body of Sun Zhengyi.

The gash from the beheading was gruesome, and his body bore the marks of torture.

Chen Shouheng swallowed hard, forcing down the wave of grief that rose in his throat. Together with the old man, he carefully placed his senior brother’s body into the coffin and closed the lid.

He hired no help. After placing the coffin securely on the cart, he began the long, silent journey to Sun Zhengyi’s home in Pingshui Village.

It was nearly noon when he arrived in Pingshui Village.

A few children playing at the village entrance saw the ox-cart and coffin and scattered in fright.

Chen Shouheng went straight to the village’s Sun Clan patriarch.

After Chen Shouheng explained his purpose, the old, white-haired patriarch’s face changed dramatically.

He waved his hands frantically, his voice filled with terror. "No! Absolutely not! Sun Zhengyi is a traitor condemned by the Court! A rebel who killed Officials! If his body is buried in our ancestral grounds, it will taint the entire clan. When the Government Office comes to investigate, our whole village will be ruined! Go, now! Take him away! I’ll pretend I never saw you!"

A deeper sense of desolation washed over Chen Shouheng as he watched.

He understood their fear, but in the end, Sun Zhengyi had done it all for the poor, only to meet such a miserable fate.

’To be denied even a plot of earth for his bones... what a miserable world this is.’

He said no more. With a clasped-hand salute to the patriarch and the others, he took the reins of the ox-cart and went to find the old Sun Family residence.

The Sun Family home was long deserted, its entrance dilapidated and in ruins.

Chen Shouheng stopped the cart and carried the coffin into the courtyard.

He found a hoe in the yard, picked a relatively flat spot in the back corner, rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and began to dig.

Just then, a timid child’s voice, laced with hesitation and curiosity, floated over from the broken gate. "Are... are you burying Uncle Sun Zhengyi?"

Chen Shouheng froze and looked up, stunned.

Peeking through a crack in the gate was a boy of about ten, all skin and bones. Half of his grimy face was visible, and his clear but timid eyes were fixed on Chen Shouheng.

The boy’s clothes were ragged and his face was smeared with grime; he was clearly an orphan.

"Who are you?"

Chen Shouheng straightened up.

The boy flinched and answered in a small voice, "I... my family name is Sun. I don’t have a given name. My parents and the villagers call me Gouwa."

Chen Shouheng put down his hoe. "Gouwa, how do you know Uncle Sun? And how did you know it was him I’m burying?"

The boy hesitated, his voice growing quieter. "Uncle Sun and I were distant relatives. After my parents died last year, I... I had to search everywhere for food. Uncle Sun would give me things to eat..."

Sensing that Chen Shouheng meant him no harm, Gouwa grew a little bolder and whispered, "A few days ago, I heard... I saw Uncle Sun... he was... beheaded by the Government Office..."

A flicker of fear crossed his eyes. "When I saw you bring the coffin into the village and then go to the patriarch, I guessed... I guessed it might be Uncle Sun..."

Chen Shouheng sighed. Without a word, he resumed digging.

With his Cultivation at the Spirit Realm Meridian Passage, he channeled his Inner Qi and easily dug a large pit. He then lowered the coffin inside, filled the grave with earth, and set up a stone tablet.

Afterward, he took out the joss paper and incense he had purchased from the coffin shop and burned them as an offering.

"Big Brother, wait."

Gouwa suddenly called out to Chen Shouheng just as he was about to leave.

He then scurried into a room, retrieved a small package wrapped tightly in grimy oil paper from beneath a loose floor tile, and offered it to Chen Shouheng.